MESSAGE #824 SIMPLY PUT…

“I have a simple philosophy:
Fill what’s empty.
Empty what’s full.
Scratch where it itches.”
-ALICE ROOSEVELT LONGWORTH

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Angie Holmberg in Oklahoma.

Well tonight’s the night. New York Yankees versus the Philadelphia Phillies. The Turnpike Series begins. Bragging rights for the tri-state area.

These are the two best teams in the Major Leagues this year.

And they’re going to be nervous.

That’s normal, and inevitable – they can’t control that.

What they can control is how they react under those conditions.

Derek Jeter has a simple approach. He just focuses on staying in the present. He stays in his own world. He’s the eye of the hurricane, calm and focused, no matter what’s going on around him.

In the New York Times yesterday, they were talking about how Jeter didn’t even know Yankee-rival and former Red Sox player, Pedro Martinez was slated to pitch Game 2.

“Is he pitching Game 2?”

“…Jeter’s approach works for him. He is focused on baseball, focused on what he must do to get prepared for games. At some point on Tuesday, he would have learned in a scouting meeting that Martinez was pitching on Thursday. So he would have two days to get ready to face a pitcher he knows intimately. Possessing that knowledge any earlier would not have mattered to Jeter, who said that his success was based on simplifying things.

‘As players, you can try to over analyze,’ he said. ‘You can over analyze things so much that you can put yourself in a funk. This is baseball. Whether you’re 8 years old playing Little League or you’re playing out there in the World Series. It’s still the same game.’ ” (NY Times, October 27, 2009)

It’s no wonder why Derek Jeter is the guy that any manager would want up at the plate when the game is on the line.

You may not be able to hit, throw and run like Derek Jeter, but you can instantly be just as mentally tough as him.

Good luck to the Yankees and Phillies; let’s hope the weather cooperates.

Thanks for reading.